January 11, 2009
-
Reading
i like reading books for guys. this one is called “Gut Check” by Tarek Saab: “One of the marks of an educated man is to know a little about everything and a lot about something.”
“Every man who knocks on the door of a brothel is looking for GOd.” G.K. Chesterton
“We become like the things we love. Love makes lovers equal.” St. Francis de Sales
This is from Justin Lookadoo:
“Whats wrong with myspace? Nothing. that’s like asking what’s wrong with telephones, TV, email, or anything else. there’s nothing really wrong with it. but there are definately some problems with the way people use it. questions:
Do you ever write negative or hurtful things about other people?
Do you get on other people’s sites and post bad stuff?
Do you post borderline sexual, bikini-type picture of yourself or others?
Do you go to sites with some info, pics, or content that you wouldn’t want your pastor to see?
Would you change your content if you knew your parents, teachers, or pastors were looking at it? (guess what–one of them probably is)
DO you post or tell anyone where you live or your real phone numbers?
do you spend fire or more hours a week on this type of site?
if you answered yes to any of these, then there is definately a problem with your useage. Mt. 12:36″
This is from “Becoming the answer to our prayers” by Shane Claiborne “A lot of intentional communities and justice movements get started because people’s hearts are stirred by God’s love for the poor and Jesus’ passion for justice. in many ways thaty’s our story, and we don’t want to belittle what the Holy Spirit is doing in activist communities and justice movements all around the world. But in our own prayer lives, we have learned that activism alone will not sustain community life, and protest doesn’t necessarily make us more loving people. it is so very important for the church to learn to name the powers and principalities, and to cry out against them. but it is equally important for us to remember that God has a plan to save the whole world through this peculiar people called “Church.” So nothing is more important than figuring out how to be church together.
” When we listen to our young brothers and sisters (who start justice movements and intentional communities), they express doubts and fears about their ability to sustain what they have started. what do you do when the novelty wears off? what happens when kids start growing up and parents lose their adrenaline? is the kindgom just an ideal that young people flirt with, or has God called us into something that we can commit ourselves to for the laug haul?…God’s hope is what we all need to stick with Jesus for the long haul. God’s hope is Abraham, all alone out under the stars. God’s hope is Israel standing out in the desert with the Red sea in front of them and Pharaoh’s army at their back. You can’t learn God’s hope like you learn the logic of an argument or the details of a story. it is more like learning to belly laugh. you catch hope from someone who has it down in their gut.
We should pray to become the sort of people who are safe for God to trust with miracles. We must become people who will not exploit or market or pervert the power of the Spirit. We must become people who get out of the way of God.”
Something beautiful:
today at church i was singing. and very distracted. i dunno why…just not able to focus. messed up. and along came a little girl with one pigtale and a very big piggy bank. it turns out she and her brothers and sisters have been saving up their change (and bills) for Brasil. taped on the piggy bank was “Lice Shampoo for Brasil” she dropped it into my hands and went skipping back to her mother. i turned my eyes back to the overhead: “i am satisfied in you…” we sang. and i closed my eyes and sang for real.
So working at Carson’s is much, much better.
this is the first time i have worked there not during Christmas music season. it makes a big difference. i laughed at myself when i tried to hang up a sweater and couldn’t figure out which hole was for the head. they all looked the same.
Comments (4)
You’re absolutely right about my post skirting the line of being almost too graphic (part of the idea in the title), but also, you are right that i didn’t throw in my pre-conceived notions into the message simply because i was trying to take people to a place where they might understand and be open to the argument that sex should wait for marriage. It’s a bit of a roundabout way to do it, but if i just say “wait until marriage” without sharing thoughts on the actual subject, many many people will simply react against it. It’s a fine line, certainly, but it was my goal.
Also, my post was much more popular than i could have anticipated – usually i get 1/10 of that traffic.
Anyways, thanks for your points, and for reading my post.
this post reminds me of something john wesley would have written. His sermon “the Almost Christian” especially kind’ve comes to mind in this.
@JadedJanissary - back to your post…i agree. and kudos! it is such a nice feeling when you suddenly see BANG! people read my stuff! and in reaching the general public…it was just right. sometimes i just wish we didn’t live in a society that you have to work so long to just bring it back to the idea of simple purity in the first place. so that’s what heaven is for…
I really know what you mean. Sometimes, i wonder if that’s not the churches fault, for becoming so separated from the world, that we lose the ability to communicate easily?
still, it’d be nice if there wasn’t such a difference in mindset so that it wasn’t an issue to begin with.
heaven will be nice…